Reviewing 5 of January's top stories

It began with a whisper. When Kodak entered talks with bidders to sell its patent portfolio in October 2011, it was suggested that task might be more easily accomplished if the camera maker filed for bankruptcy first, since if Kodak turned out to be insolvent, such purchases could be considered “fraudulent transfers.”

But all is not gloom and doom in Arntsen’s world (though for the most part it is). Alan Lewis, a prominent white collar defense attorney and partner at Carter, Ledyard & Milburn, has signed on to represent him as of Jan. 23.

Seven individuals were arrested in conjunction with the case, and accused of running an “international organized criminal enterprise” responsible for infringement that caused copyright holders to lose $500 million. Then, to add insult to injury, Hogan Lovells partner Robert Bennett, the lawyer scheduled to represent Megaupload, was required to withdraw from the case due to a conflict of interest on Jan. 23.

Judge Rakoff reasoned that for cases such as this one, it wasn’t in the public interest for companies to be allowed to settle without admitting wrongdoing. Some progress was made on that front when the SEC changed its “neither admit nor deny” policy on Jan. 6, saying that when a company has admitted wrongdoing in criminal proceedings, it can no longer turn around and settle with the SEC without owning up to the conduct in that case as well. However, the SEC explicitly said that this policy change had nothing to do with Judge Rakoff’s rejection of the Citigroup settlement.

The SEC further expressed its displeasure with Rakoff’s decision on Jan. 25, when it said in a filing that the Citigroup settlement didn’t need to be in the public interest.